The following description is provided to assist the understanding of the reader. None of the information provided or references cited is admitted to be prior art to the present technology.
A wide variety of oxidants are employed for bleaching, cleaning, disinfection, and decontamination, yet they suffer from various drawbacks. Some oxidants are harsh, such as the hypochlorites used in household bleach. Other oxidants, such as hydrogen peroxide, are ineffective at low (i.e., safe) concentrations. Still other oxidants, such as ozone, can be difficult to control at low concentrations, or they can generate undesirable byproducts, such as chlorinated organics from the use of hypochlorites.
A particularly strong class of oxidants, the peroxymonosulfate (POMS) salts, such as Oxone®, suffer from the above-indicated drawbacks, but can be reacted with ketones to create the relatively selective dioxirane oxidants. Dioxiranes react with a variety of organic substrates, e.g., by inserting oxygen atoms into carbon-carbon double bonds, which provides a bleaching action and makes the oxidized substrate more water-soluble and susceptible to rinsing. Despite these practical attributes, dioxiranes have found limited success as agents for cleaning, disinfection, and decontamination. However, such dioxiranes, especially those which are volatile, may be inconvenient or incompatible for use with typical hot water washing processes. For example, dimethyl dioxirane and its corresponding ketone, acetone, are readily volatilized under typical hot water washing conditions, which may lead to undesirable volatile organic emissions, flammable vapors, difficulty ensuring sufficient concentrations of dimethyl dioxirane for the desired oxidations, or the like. Moreover, high concentrations of volatile dioxiranes, which are effectively cyclic peroxides, are undesirable. As such, dioxiranes such as dimethyl dioxirane have not found practical use for consumer or industrial applications related to cleaning, disinfection, and decontamination.
Therefore, there is a need for new dioxirane oxidants which are safer, more selective, and more effective under conditions such as those required of consumer or industrial applications related to cleaning, disinfection, and decontamination.